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Spartacus (1960)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, a slave and gladiator who leads a rebellion against Rome during the events of the Third Servile War. Adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same title, the film also stars Laurence Olivier as Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Charles Laughton as…
Directed by Stanley Kubrick · Shot by Clifford Stine, Russell Metty · Cut by Irving Lerner, Robert Lawrence · Music by Alex North · 197 min
How it was made
- Universal insisted the film be made in America rather than Kubrick's preferred cheap-extras location of Rome, so a compromise sent the intimate scenes to Hollywood soundstages and the battle scenes to Spain.
- Kubrick's crew used three-channel sound equipment to record 76,000 spectators shouting “Hail, Crassus!” and “I'm Spartacus!” at a college football game, then used the recording to build the film's crowd noise.
- About 8,000 trained Spanish infantry soldiers doubled as the Roman army for battle scenes filmed on a plain outside Madrid, directed by Kubrick from specially built towers.
- The film was shot in 35mm Super Technirama 70 and blown up to 70mm, a departure from Kubrick's usual spherical format, chosen to capture large panoramic scenes.
- Kubrick fired actress Sabine Bethmann after only two days on set, paying her $3,000 to go home, and replaced her with Jean Simmons on a single day's notice.
Behind the scenes
Elsewhere
More by Stanley Kubrick
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